Having been an "audiophile" for the last decade, wireless headphones are the best thing that happened to me since the beginning of the journey.

[williamr]

I wonder if ther airpod max’s can get close. Wishful thinking, perhaps? What kind of eq setting for the max do you have on your phone?

I'm not the OP but I use Crinicle EQ setting on my Mac and they sound very good.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

Agreed completely. ANC headphones have completely changed my listening experience along with my perception of where good audio quality can be had. You realize just how much ambient noise there is in a modern home, along with the noise coming from the neighborhood or environment. When you not hear it, it's a completely transformative experience. With ANC you are completely at one with the audio. Thus, with no other obstructions, the purity of the sound goes right to your ears. That's the very definition of fidelity! Makes passive models seem positively antiquated at that point.

People argue about small differences in THD+N in amplifiers, but don't seem to be interested in the much greater improvements to be had even in quiet environments from listening to headphones with ANC. The reductions in perceived noise are orders of magnitude greater than could be had by things like changing from the noisiest to the most transparent amplifier.

 

[Pretorious]

People argue about small differences in THD+N in amplifiers, but don't seem to be interested in the much greater improvements to be had even in quiet environments from listening to headphones with ANC. The reductions in perceived noise are orders of magnitude greater than could be had by things like changing from the noisiest to the most transparent amplifier.

Indeed, I made this same argument in another thread awhile back. It mostly fell on deaf ears. You would think the members of ASR of all sites would be more receptive of the science and engineering going on outside the realm of traditional hifi manufacturers but that doesn’t at all seem to be case.

The mainstream moved to ANC headphones and more convenient (but still good sounding) speaker setups a long time ago. But the mainstream can be anathema here. So we get that arguing over minuscule amounts of perceived distortion. It often feels like the world is passing us by on here, and for good reason.

 

[TonyJZX]

i would largely agree with OP - even a cheap set of no name chinese brand headphones can offer a really good expereience... even on SBC

its come to a point where you can charge the thing up once a week and it just keeps going

i dont work in this environement any more but in noisy places piping music or podcasts or whatver thru ANC headphones makes the hours pass much easier

I would also say the suite of wireless peripherals changes the desktop... I can have a laptop with no wires running for hours... wireless mouse, wireless ANC headphones... makes for a very free WFH environment

 

[Soandso]

It seems ANC headphones effect on "cancelling" some sound is just relevant up to about 1,000 Hz. However reduction (supposed "cancelling") of higher sound frequencies' is due to the headphones' physical insulation against ambient sound. In addition although ANC lowers the sound level of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) apparently it does not decisively change that ratio. See screen shot of quote below from a recent (2022) German report [free full text DOI = 10.3389/fbvil.2022.962462].

The conclusion of the report was that ANC headphone usage demonstrated no significant difference in regards to cognitive performance. It did increase perceived privacy for subjects and when using ANC headphones they felt (assessed) that their acoustic environment was better.